




> X rL> v* 'tC'-Tifv- v ^ O .A ^ 

JL* * >A1 \\NNS> * N y ^ * '-&//]P& * rv ^ *■•*,,]---• - • > kv 

v '•«;- > v y % *?■< * ’./ ^ *• .^** y 

v V *'*°' A a?' s*VL% *> V + y '° 

• <> vV * rCOv ^^ A° ^r> V ♦ r A/1. • 

’W* '8 &£w 0 j°. 





<-G 

6/ , j , a . 

« ^ >. 


G v o 


-G ^ 

* * ^ „ I . ~ ^ m :Q ^ 

■£ y t • L '/ * ^ ' r 0 v o 0 N ® -» ' ? o 

* &r(t77?2^ \r C • ^^v.,." O 

vv* 4 A < A: t,/', y> . --‘ v +p 6 

Cr _°<s 1 "oV 


' . . « 



. ^ 



o V 

* y * o, c? .9 c, v* *•+ ? V * y • o„ "c> ;9* s * • • 

<y ♦ fi|A) * A. a> «• A • A ° <* A 

p's - °/.:>t: ! -: ■". Vv ' m^'iKhl ^ v 

- y^ "- y^. : liSir * yv *. 

„ _.. / , *' <* °. <#V. y ^ 'X';t>»* 4> <#> - 

*-•• ^ ^'••** y -... °*. '•■••• y <- •— 

A ^ * v , y * 





o V 

* ^ *, 

V**«;» o °. 

* * 

▼ V * ^ ~ * AV 5 

<* ^ <s y r\ a * A^ * J 

* ^ A/ ^ rd\ , ; ' A° "Vr 9 ' ^ 

‘K 14 * vPV 

v V^ 

' k 4 ,-' ^ /V 

o * * - . G o ^ , s 6 A y. •” o * >■ '* A G 

.1 ,T> ” 



. y a 

A° ^ ' • * 5 

. 0 ' o 0 " 8 * o 
C ♦ O 



-<U ^ /4, ° A° <^ v °^ ^•/i* aP 

, V„ v , v ^ ^ ,‘/JP 















O * '*€W*> X * 0 


“ A * 



^ «v A# O 



,s^ ; 

^ *--*** r X ^ 

> X * 

- * c° ' 

^ ' 


jf **o o 

V\** °* f°° 

V +' * °* O -<y 4 s * • 

V V * (CC\ tf? A° ^ A * ‘ 

* ^' M/ /k ° X 9 S 

V- 5 ' 





, ^ °^ ■ 

* K v tf. 

♦ -OX O * 

* * ° a ^ ^ 

' x> v f**o, a? sy 

• ^ x .m;. % a* . 

" V* v .Wl/A. „ 

2 




V--SS?/ ,*♦"** '-fW. : /\ 

••V"> .-•• V"V 1 .-■. V'" 1 '^ •••• '-« 

. ^sv7n~ + r •cCS^w^ O *0^ 1 

-c ^ r\ > o 


* O 

S' *b V* .*< 


0" ^ % 




\0 * 7 * 

d <-r'////ll,JP > ? ^ w 

X °4+ *«' 1 • ’ X ’** A 

A * * o ^\ fX s ♦ * , ^ X 4 \ V 

*>. >. AV ^ v 



*£* yA 

v^'V 


A" * 



: W 


^ , 


Xr <A 

/ A A A A “W' • • 

<X '«•** .0 9> v®,> G <?’*..,** .6* 9> 

» Ap r 0 y G 0 " * * *b •V’ . «• ' * _ X, X 0 M O *Pl 

V G •_ s JsS$ft K <■“ o ^"9 ',^rr>A *, *£ G° * c r^x c 

!> * ^0< . oV 9 ^ 0 < / 



v * 

<$? °*U * 0 • 1 * 1 *<$> * o„o» AV 

, V v *»••- ,0^ s‘VL% ^ V % 'o ,0 

^ • wv- \ a* ''Ate* % *+ 'AMa* % </ * 




V ,5 /\ 

♦ • 5 < y 



• C^> - 

< <L v ^ 


; * 

^ ^ °. ^>J-4 ^ 

^ -o.*- G v 

* <i> , w . „ ^ 

sZifizZ: % c 

• c> V . MmT&xfi * ^ <y ® 

f 0 ^ O N 0 ° <^ 

l> S, <* +. f y 

*<* A * t L” ^/v C 

It \\ \\ A 9^ 




• 4? * 


<r 



' * * s4 A >. 

^ ,V , l( . ^ 

% ^ A* * 

: •’o ." 



V' O 



x sy ,*vi^ 

*« A®’ ^ 

C.V” ♦ 



^ 0 I* 0 

V « • * _ y^«s 


* ^ 


A Ay. e 
* V ^ ° 


c9 

^ -Cy^ V -Qr>. * 

O '•••* A o^ V a 

^ G° Cr °o ^ ^ 

*. ^^ ' •». -o £ : ^' ~ 




*; ,9 yyHf' y •% - 

• ^ • ’ 0° \ '* 

y .v^/i.% V c-y .*^Sfev. 

t ; , 

° O * A 'J'r, - 

^ ^ Ey'VCW^ * (i* '- >v o ' J V° * <f? * 





* S* A 




4 O 

0 A 

h frv 

<L r o- ^ -<>t^ a 

®« 0 vv o. ^ /1 * .0 

V f ’ * c>^ .9 V 

«$► AT * .{(v^^A 0 X X * 

XX 4w. X9 S - 

• <p % . 


o • A 



^ -s- —V , A 
















_ • ■ - • 

The 'Underground 
— Railroad — 


,y«***4* ... 


— lAtunoau 

. - . 

of McDoiiough County, = 
Illinois 

; 

... . 


r? -r,, * ,>,,p 

, ;h*, ; 

2 ■ " ' .• ■ is: 

. «*'... V* , ■ »• 

■ .Vif ■• >■- >; W •' •. -’L ■ ' 


dji&fu*. ■*• • w 'T . % aV* • 

•tP| 5 jj»^ ^ -r^ 

' 4*/ /' S j, - 

' ■ 3»7. ■ ■**s % . ■; # -«-■ 4:$* .?•*«i« 

imi 









. - - ' v ,/>. ; 
• .* ' v ~ ; / :.2W ■ 


Pvl 





> T c s ? .r ^ . ; i. ^ 

i'■>:>. ' • 

r 4 

f ■./•"> ■ 


* 










4:‘ 


- **-.• 

. 








> y.v | 

' 


i*' %1 ' ", • 

te ■ • )i 


i •* 








i.i : v 






f 



»* v 

■• V ■ ' , v . ! . 

: , ' _ • ; 


■ 








, 




- {• 




i * ... 






f . ’■ ' ' ■/- s 

' V 

'; K 


- 

* 1? ,, • . • 


•>v . 

*** 






- V 

Sj 




V , ***** 

r/ 








. t 




* v: 


■ ii 


. -fa, 

*** . c ' 
- •• 











* M>. 

_ ; '/ ■ 

J ■■ C-v 


/ 



V % ■ 











. -*• 





%r4 




V ’« 


■ i 

: , .- 




■V 




*V 








" 

A-.. * ■ . " v 




"v ** #*'• 

** 4 . 

/ •'••* 

■ J 1 

.; * 




h \ 4 * 





+ >■ 






• » 






\ 









*+ f 




V * • 




. ‘fv-V 




% 


V 




.A s \ V- 

,1 > , ■■ : ^ ^ ■ 

.. • ■ *>"?. . ' •' . ' j. 






> * ■%. 





. 


’ 



H 


i 






m 














HISTORY OF 


THE UNDERGROUND 
RAILROAD 


of McDonough county, 
ILLINOIS 


DEDICATED TO 

McDonough county historical 

SOCIETY 


FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1922 


D. N. BLAZER 
Aledo, Illinois 



% 



* 





Copy 



0(o\\o fj 
(it ^ ? 






* 
















To the McDonough County 
Historical Society 

Ladies and Qentlemen: 


HAVE been asked to write a historical ac¬ 
count of the underground railway that was 
in existence in McDonough county before the 
Civil war, but it is impossible, after a lapse of 
more than sixty years, with no authentic 
records to draw from, to assemble anything like a chrono¬ 
logical account of the events that transpired in those 
troubled times. As it is my aim to deal only with those 
events that I know to be true, I must therefore confine my 
account largely to episodes that came directly under my 
attention as a boy, and to incidents related to me by my 
father and mother, coupled with much valuable informa¬ 
tion secured from the children of Andrew and Harmon Al¬ 
lison, who like the Blazers were ardent abolitionists, and 
a part of the underground system. I trust that this ac¬ 
count, which is as accurate and complete as it is in my 
power to give it at this late date, may assist you in gain¬ 
ing an idea of the strife and animosities that existed in the 
decade ending in i860. 

It was preached that slavery was a divine institution 
and that the negro was nothing more than an animal; the 
fearless men who operated the underground system were 
criminals in the eyes of the law but they gained courage 



5 












for their dangerous work in the firm belief that they were 
performing a duty in the eyes of God and that the black 
man was a human being with a soul. 

All underground railroads started on the line of some 
free state that bordered on a slave state. The road that 
extended through McDonough county started at Quincy, 
which was station No. 1, receiving negroes from across 
the Mississippi river in Missouri. Station No. 2 was down 
at Round Prairie in Hancock county, at the Pettyjohn or 
Burton home. Station No. 3, in McDonough county, was 
generally at the home of some one of the Blazers down 
on Camp Creek in Industry township, or at the home of 
Uncle Billy Allison, or one of his sons up on Troublesome 
Creek. Part of them lived in Chalmers and others in 
Scotland township. Station No. 4 was at the home of Henry 
Dobbins in Fulton county, from whence cargoes of negroes 
were dispatched to Galesburg, Princeton and on to Can¬ 
ada, the terminus of all underground railroads. It is in¬ 
teresting to recall that the Princeton station was in charge 
of the Lovejoy family, which played such an important 
part in the early abolition movement. 

Oratorical Genius No Match 
For Hatred Against Emancipation 

At the time when the quarrel between the abolition¬ 
ists and adherents of slavery was becoming most bitter, 
proponents of emancipation engaged an orator to speak 
afternoon and night at Old Camp Creek church, then lo¬ 
cated about a mile and a half southeast of Ebenezer church 
and a like distance southwest of the present Camp Creek 
church. Antagonists served notice that the speaker would 
not be permitted to talk, and when the afternoon meeting 
hour drew near there was an organized gang present bent 
on breaking up the meeting and probably doing violence 
to the orator. These men were armed and acting in a 
threatening manner. 


The atmosphere was tense with excitement. Blood¬ 
shed was feared. 

There were men and women present, who, while 
not in sympathy with any argument that could be de¬ 
livered against slavery, were governed by cooler judg¬ 
ments, and they prevailed upon the gang not to start any 
trouble. “Let him speak; we’d like to hear what he has 
to say,” was the admonition that calmed the armed band. 

The address was an impassioned speech depictingthe 
negro in chains, cowed to the dust under the whip of the 
master, sold and bartered like cattle and torn asunder 
mother from child, father from son—the negro, though 
black by no fault of his own, born in the image of his Cre¬ 
ator and entitled to life, liberty and happiness no less than 
his white brother. 

The orator held his audience well, but only for the 
moment. Animosities were too bitter to be wiped out with 
a single flash of oratorical genius; hatred of the negro as 
a free and equal being was too deeply imbedded. When 
the address was finished and the more inflammable minds 
descended to the level of everyday thinking, these hatreds 
and animosities again came to the surface, and there was 
a general determination that the speaker had said enough 
for one day. A council of the abolitionists was held, and 
both men and women debated whether or not it would be 
advisable to permit the speaker to go through with his 
evening program. It was finally decided that in order to 
avoid probable bloodshed, the evening session should be 
called off. 

Men Carried Rifles When 
They Went to the Ballot Box 

In 1852 the abolitionists had a candidate for presi¬ 
dent in John P. Hale. The adherents of slavery declared 
there should not be an abolitionist vote cast in McDon¬ 
ough county. 


7 


In those days there were a number of voting places 
in the county and any resident could go where he chose 
to vote, but there was no secret ballot then. When you 
went to the polls you gave the clerk your name, who 
wrote it down, called through the list of offices to be 
filled and you told him your choice, which was registered. 
The voting place in Macomb that year was James M. 
CampbelPs store on the west side of the square and north 
of West Jackson street, known for years as Campbell’s 
Corner. 

Now the abolitionists were just as defiant as their 
opponents and sent word back to them that they would 
vote at 10 o’clock in Macomb. The records show there 
were nine votes cast for Hale. The archives in the attic 
of your court house have been thoroughly searched for 
the names of the nine men but they are not to be found. 
George, Andrew and Harmon Allison and Charles, John 
and James Blazer made up six of the nine men, but I am 
not positive as to the other three. 

I am indebted to the late Alex. McClain for the in¬ 
formation that the nine men met in the Court House yard. 
By lot they decided their places in the line, and then 
marched across to Campbell’s Corner, single file, each 
with his gun on his shoulder. There were many men of 
the opposition there with guns and many who were there 
just to see what would happen. Of course, the vast ma¬ 
jority of them, as now, felt that every man should have 
the right to vote his own sentiments, and probably that 
spirit had much to do with preventing bloodshed. 

Sarah K. Allison Tells How 
Slavery Thwarted Cupid 

In assembling data I have had the honor to receive 
a communication from Sarah K. Allison, now living at 504 
East Washington street, Macomb. This communication, 
coming from the grand-daughter of Uncle Billy Allison. 


one of McDonough county’s foremost ardent abolitionists 
is especially interesting and I take pleasure in including it 
in its entirety, as follows: 

“The first I remember of hearing about the Under¬ 
ground Railroad was when 1 was a little girl in our dis¬ 
trict school in the country. This was when Lincoln ran 
for President in i860. We school children were political 
enthusiasts on the sides our fathers were on. We had 
gleaned many notions of right and wrong. 

“I remember one day I was told we kept “niggers” in 
our attic. This I was too small to understand but that eve¬ 
ning I told mother and asked what they meant. She re¬ 
plied, “You may tell them there are none there now.” 
This did not improve matters much—because I heard a lot 
about the “nigger.” One thing was he was not more than 
a sheep, with wool on his head, etc. These went home 
again to mother, who said, “They do not know it all— 
God made all people and he made the colored man too.” 

“Years later I heard father telling about taking some 
farm produce to market to a named place and returning 
with several colored people underneath the straw on the 
bottom of his wagon bed. After a time he noticed he was 
followed by three horsemen. They were gaining on him 
although he was driving as fast as the roads would per¬ 
mit. 

“Coming to a gully or deep ravine he slowed down 
and told these colored people to jump out, and keep along 
the stream. This they did while he drove on as fast as 
possible. Yet he was overtaken and ordered to halt. 
This he did and explained he had marketed produce and 
was returning home but they turned everything upside 
down in the wagon—then let him go on. 

“This incident father repeated more than once, be¬ 
cause he said he never knew what became of them— 
those colored people. He searched the ravine for them 


9 


when it was safe to do so but he never heard from them 
in any way afterward. 

“This related incident brought more questions from 
me and mother then told me “The Allisons helped slaves 
to freedom and sometimes had kept them a while when 
pursued.” The attic in the old home had old gowns, 
hoods, coats, etc., used as disguises. They helped them 
reach the Blazers. 

“The Quincy Station was from John Van Dorn’s. My 
mother’s oldest brother, John Brown, helped them from 
Missouri across. He had many adventures that worried 
his mother. She told me about this. 

“My mother, Beulah Brown, and her sister, Lucinda 
Brown, married two Allison brothers, Harmon and Andrew, 
and came to reside near Macomb in 1851-1853. My 
father’s sister, Mary, married into the John Van Dorn 
family by a previous marriage at Quincy, Illinois. There 
was another wedding, the spirit of those independent 
times, made to slip “Twixt the cup and the lip” as it were. 
Elizabeth, my father’s sister, met a southern gentleman 
with southern principles, but Cupid played a part and he 
promised she should be free to hold her own views on 
the slavery question and so express them. The wedding 
was arranged for, guests invited, the table set, and guests, 
groom-to-be, minister and everyone there. Then he broke 
his promise and plead with her not to talk abolition poli¬ 
tics in the home he was taking her to; for her own sake as 
well as his, he asked her not to do so. 

“She replied he had commenced just a little bit too 
soon to curb free thought and the freedom of expression. 
She handed him back his ring and in her wedding gown 
went into the guest room where the company had gath¬ 
ered and announced there would be no wedding, giving 
her reason. 




10 


“The would-be groom was met by his party and 
friends and departed. Later Elizabeth married a Yankee 
doctor from Massachusetts. They agreed on politics. 

“I wonder if there are not times when silence is real¬ 
ly wisdom after all. So much depends but young America 
believes in independence and I glory in her spunk, don’t 
you? ” 

Actors in Black Drama, 

Wearied, Waive Historical Data 

I was told by a friend that McDonough county had 
a complete account of the Underground Railroad in 
Clark’s History. That interested me and I secured a copy 
which I prize highly. It is an interesting and accurate ac¬ 
count of the early history of the county, and as a whole 
the abolitionist question is treated ably, but the story of 
the Underground Railroad in McDonough county could be 
told only by the families who conducted it and they would 
not talk. 

Mr. Clark did not mention an Allison and but one 
Blazer, John Blazer, who told him one story and only 
part of that. The strife and worry of twenty years with 
their neighbors had worn them out and they did not want 
to say or do anything that would stir up old scores. I 
can remember Mr. Clark visiting at my father’s house and 
insisting that my father tell him something but father and 
mother said no. He told them that John Blazer had given 
him a story and my father said that was enough. 

The story was about Tom, a bright, likely young 
negro who was quite religious. My uncle asked him what 
church he was going to join. He said: “When I get up 
North I’m gwine to join the Yankee church. One thing sure 
I nebber will join the Presbyterian church.” Now that was 
quite interesting as the Blazers were Presbyterians. “No,” 
said Tom, “they are perfect debbils and I’ll never join 
that church. My master was a Presbyterian.” 


11 


While John Blazer told the anecdote of Tom he did 
not tell that Tom, together with an old negro, a young 
wench and two little pickaninnies were in the same ship¬ 
ment and that it was extremely muddy at the time. That 
cargo was held a week or more at Burton’s. 

At that time our family was keeping house for a 
year or more at the home of my uncle, John Blazer, his 
wife, my Aunt Mary, having died. The two negro men, 
the black woman and two pickaninnies were delivered to 
us by Burton and stayed in a bedroom just off the living 
room, and although neighbors happened in frequently we 
never heard a whimper from the babies. The neighbors 
were none the wiser except of course that the Blazers 
were always under suspicion of aiding negroes to free¬ 
dom. Why didn’t John Blazer tell Mr. Clark this? Twen¬ 
ty years of strife, threats of imprisonment, and an aver¬ 
sion against stirring up old animosities closed the lips of 
those men who could have written a first hand account of 
the underground railway in McDonough county or 
furnished the material for Mr. Clark to do so. 

Early Recollection of How 
Armed Men Menaced Abolitionists 

One of the early experiences of the Blazers, told to 
me by my father, occurred in the early ’forties. One eve¬ 
ning there was a party of several men gathered across the 
ravine back of my grandmother Blazer’s house, better 
known in late years as the Butcher place. They all car¬ 
ried guns and the Blazer men went into the house to get 
their weapons but my grandmother said, “No, do not take 
any guns, we will just go over and see what they want.” 
They went but by the time they got there the men had 
disappeared. On their way back the boys discovered that 
their mother carried a meat ax under her apron. 

When my cousin, Jennie Blazer Watson, was a lit¬ 
tle tot and just beginning to talk, a neighbor man, who 


12 


had very curly hair, came to my grandmother’s. Jennie 
toddled up to him and said, “You have curly hair all over 
your head, just like little Maggie.” Well, Maggie was a 
little black girl, who with her mother, previously had gone 
through on their way to Canada. 

A child’s prattle could not be used as evidence in 
court so nothing came of it except to cause more talk 
and more discussion of the fugitive slave law, for the 
Missouri Compromise and the Dred Scott decision were 
ably and fluently discussed at that time by'school chil¬ 
dren and men who could neither read nor write. 

Charlie, Runaway Slave. Led 
Charmed and Exciting Life 

The most interesting story connected with any negro 
that passed through the underground railroad of Mc¬ 
Donough county was woven around Charlie, a very light 
colored buck, with a sharp nose. He probably was a 
quadroon, or quarter-blood and was the property of a 
man by the name of Busch, whose plantation lay back 
some miles from the Missouri river. It was customary 
with the planters when the wheat was threshed to go to 
town and stay while negro boys hauled it to market. 
Charlie- and two others were hauling the Busch wheat. 
When “teaed up” one night Busch and the other planters 
were discussing recent escapes of slaves from Missouri, 
when Busch turned banteringly to Charlie and asked him 
why he didn’t try running away just for a little excitement. 
When Charlie went to his quarters that night he was 
thinking, and before he went to sleep he had it all figured 
out how he was going to make a break for Yankeedom. 

Next morning Charlie was up early and on their way 
the boys scolded him for driving so hard. When they reach¬ 
ed home Charlie, who was the boss when his master was 
not around, put the boys to loading the wagons with wheat 
for the next day’s trip to the river. Charlie told the boys 


13 


he was going to a dance across the way and went to an 
old mammy and asked for some bacon and pone. She 
gave it to him but said, “Nigger what you up to ? You 
know you would not need any bacon or pone if you were 
going to a nigger dance. You are up to some deviltry. ” 
Charlie struck out afoot, but not a word did he tell his 
wife for he said he knew it would break her heart. He 
had nearly forty-eight hours start, for the boys had to 
drive to the river and the master go back home to secure 
dogs and organize for the chase. When the pursuers 
reached the big river Charlie was housed securely with 
the Van Dorns and John Brown in Quincy. 

The Blazers gave Charlie the credit of being the 
smartest negro that ever passed over the McDonough 
county route. After reaching Canada Charlie got 
some Pennsylvania Presbyterians interested in trying 
to get his wife and two children to Canada., They sent 
an old Presbyterian minister through, who arranged with 
Busch for their freedom for $800. The preacher went 
back and raised the money but when he returned with 
the cash Busch had raised to $1200. He went back to 
Pennsylvania, secured the $1200 but Busch had concluded 
he must have $1500. This Charlie would not agree to, 
determining to go back, steal them, and take them to 
Canada. He made several trips. Twice he succeeded in 
getting his wife and children and making a start. After 
the first attempt Busch had the mother and two children 
sleep in the loft above his and his wife’s bedroom, which 
was reached by a ladder and a scuttle hole, but Charlie 
climbed to the top of the cabin, removed the clapboards 
and succeeded in getting nearly to the Illinois side of the 
Mississippi with his loved ones when the chase was so close 
it was evident they were going to be captured. On the 
advice of his wife Charlie jumped into the river and 
escaped in the dark. 


14 


A few days later he was at the Blazers on his way to 
Canada. Charlie by this time knew the road and did not 
require any conductor. Lodging and something to eat were 
his only needs and he always had a new and interesting 
experience to relate. One is worth a place here. 

Ploughmen Have Encounter 
With Desperate Negro Slave 

Charlie was on his way to Missouri and left Dobbins, 
the Fulton county station, for the Blazer post, but he had 
not gone far when a fog arose and Charlie lost his way. 
He wandered around nearly all night, finally gave up and 
lay down to sleep. When he awoke it was daylight and 
two men were standing over him. They ordered him to 
get up, which he did, but Charlie jerked a big dirk knife 
and made a slash at one of them. Charlie escaped and 
arrived at my father’s early that night. They fed him 
but decided he had better strike out for the next station 
immediately. Charlie said he cut the fellow’s clothing 
but did not think he was hurt much. The fact that one 
of them carried an ox whip suggested that the men from 
whom Charlie escaped had been plowing prairie and were 
at the time of the encounter looking for their cattle which 
had been unyoked and turned loose to graze during the 
night. This guess proved to be true, for later one of the 
ploughmen was found laid up from a slight wound such 
as might have been caused by a knife. However, the 
ploughman did not mention any set-to with the fugitive 
negro, declaring that he had accidentally fallen against 
a ploughshare. Perhaps they thought it would not be of 
any credit to them to acknowledge that a negro was too 
much for two of them. 

Charlie did not succeed in stealing his wife and chil¬ 
dren but on the other hand they finally captured Charlie 
and sent him to the hemp works in Tennessee. There was 
only one place worse that you could send a negro and 


15 


that was the indigo works in Florida. There he would 
lose his finger nails inside of two years and be a dead 
nigger in five years. But Charlie was too smart for them 
to keep him any place unless they kept him chained. A 
few months later, just at the opening of the Civil war, 
Charlie crossed the Ohio river near Cincinnati and went 
up through Ohio. He told the Ohio people of his wonder¬ 
ful experiences, which they doubted, but he gave them 
the address of Henry Dobbins. They wrote to him and he 
verified Charlie’s story. 

After the emancipation of the slaves Charlie’s wife 
and two children reached Canada, the Canaan of all 
negroes. 

Neighbors, Families Divided 
On Question of Slavery 

It frequently happened that families were di\ ided on 
the slave question. The Chase family and an incident di¬ 
rectly connected with the underground railway is worth 
a place in this article. A conductor from the station in 
Hancock county started to bring a darkey to the Allison 
station. A fog, which was very common at that time, 
rose and he found he was lost. After driving for some time 
he came to a house and called the man out and asked the 
road to Macomb and found he was just out south of town. 
He knew Rev. James Chase lived close to Macomb and 
was an abolitionist, so he inquired the way to Chase’s. 

He was told it was just a little wav over to the Chase 
home and was directed to the Harvey Chase place, which 
stood just this side of Kill Jordan, now within the city 
limits of Macomb, where the Archie Fisher home stands. 
Now it happened that Harvey Chase, who had been 
reared as an abolitionist the same as James, had changed 
and was on the other side of the question. 

When he called Mr. Chase out and informed him of 
his mission he was told that he was wanting James Chase 


16 


and was directed to his home, which was on the farm east 
of the county farm. 

When the abolitionists asked Harvey Chase why he 
did not call an officer and have the darkey sent back to 
his master he explained by saying, ‘'the stranger came to 
him in good faith and he, as a gentleman, was honor bound 
to keep the faith.” But his brother, James, had a differ¬ 
ent explanation. He said “brother Harvey knew slavery 
was wrong and while he talked in favor of it he did not 
believe in it.” The Chase brothers were gentlemen of 
honor. 

Last Cargo of Negroes 

To Pass Over Underground System 

The last cargo of negroes passed over the under¬ 
ground railway in McDonough couaty in i860. This last 
cargo was not only the largest but the most valuable that 
ever passed over our route, and the only negro ever cap¬ 
tured in this county was taken from this cargo. They 
were all big husky fellows, picked with a view to strength 
and endurance and were bought up for the hemp works 
of Tennessee. They were brought into a river town and 
were to be delivered the next morning when the master 
would get his money but that night they all escaped and 
reached Quincy, this was in June. The prize was a big one; 
$500 per head was the sum offered for their capture. 

The cargo of negroes had been out to Round Prairie 
two or three times and back-tracked to Quincy until things 
would quiet down, but was finally delivered to us by Pet¬ 
tyjohn of the Huntsville country one morning before day¬ 
light in September, i860. 

I was aroused and told to go to my uncle’s to 
inform him of the arrival of the negroes. I rapped 
gently on the window of Uncle John’s bedroom. He sig¬ 
nalled with a light tapping on the pane to let me know 
that he understood. I returned home, and by the time 


17 


I had reached there the negroes had been stowed 
away, each in a shock of corn, and supplied with food and 
water. I am not sure at this late date whether there were 
eleven or twelve negroes in the cargo, as the shipments 
were then called. Clark’s history incorrectly reports the 
number as five. 

When Pettyjohn delivered the negroes at our home 
he started on his return trip immediately. 

Just after daylight on a hill west of Middletown, or 
Fandon, he passed a man on horseback. At some distance 
Pettyjohn looked back and saw that the other traveler 
had stopped and was looking over the conductor and his 
empty train. Pettyjohn at once knew that he was suspic- 
ioned. The man on horseback was not one of those that 
took part in hunts for runaway slaves, but as afterwards 
told to my father, he happened to meet and men¬ 
tion the matter to Dave Chrisman who was the leader of 
the slavery-sympathizers in McDonough county. Clark’s 
History reports that the driver got lost and left his team 
and wagon in a gully near Dave Chrisman’s house, and in 
that way it was learned that the cargo had arrived at the 
Blazers. That was Dave Chrisman’s story, and it was gen¬ 
erally believed. There was no means of knowing that it 
was not true and Mr. Clark was justified in writing it as the 
abolitionists would not give the historian any facts. At 
the time this history was written the negroes had long 
since been free and the abolitionists were only too glad to 
dismiss the old strifes from their thoughts. Dave Chris¬ 
man was a bluffer and invented the story of finding the 
team near his house thinking it would add to his notoriety. 

I recall very well that while the dozen negroes 
sat and sweat in the corn shocks, for it was a hot Septem¬ 
ber day, my father and John Blazer flailed buckwheat just 
south of the John Blazer house and they had company 
all day long. Dave Chrisman was the first visitor. He 
had been the rounds and notified his followers and made 


18 


arrangements which were to be carried out that night. No 
one stayed very long but one visitor was not any more 
than gone when another rode up and would sit on his 
horse out in the road and talk for a time. All carried 
rifles, which was not unusual those times for there was 
still considerable game in the country. But the visitors 
were not the only people who had guns for two rifles stood 
inside the fence near where the two men flailed and talked 
to their neighbors while I sat on the fence, listened and 
watched and reported who was coming. The sober, quiet, 
determined men knew that trouble was ahead of them and 
when by themselves talked over their plans for the coming 
night when the valuable cargo must be delivered to the 
next station. 

You may think it strange but each insisted that they 
should be in charge of the negroes when they started on 
the perilous trip and each had a good reason why he should 
go but John had the best argument. It was his turn and 
my father, when the time came, started up the prairie just 
after dark with a wagon load of grain covered with a tar¬ 
paulin. Before he had gon£*a half mile some twenty- 
five or thirty horsemen rode up, all carrying guns, and 
rode along for a mile or more and visited, when they 
dropped back and held a short consultation, and four 
came back, caught up with him, and rode several miles 
with him when they turned and rode away. My father 
went on to Bernadotte to mill and did not know the fate 
of the darkies until he returned home the next day. 

Only One Negro Captured 

And Quarry Was Not Worth the Chase 

Now John and the colored boys had swung off to¬ 
wards the timber and then went straight east up the prairie 
until even with the Dickie Craig farm. When they started 
to the timber they had to cross a new plank fence which 
had been built just along the south side of the Craig land. 


19 


Just as John and the negroes got on top of the fence 
Chrisman and his men, who had been lying in the shadow 
of the fence, raised up. 

John Blazer said to the negroes, “Run boys for the 
timber.” They did as told and all got away but one, which 
Chrisman hit over the head with a gun. 

Chrisman, accompanied by one or two of the 
leaders, took the negro to Macomb where he was held in 
jail until the owner came and claimed his property. But 
Chrisman, as was often the case, then failed to get his re¬ 
ward, as the owner said he had lost his man’s work, and 
spent so much money trying to get him back that he could 
not afford to pay anything. 

Ten or twelve men, comprising the balance of the 
party that, together with Chrisman, had captured the ne¬ 
gro, came back that night and threw clubs and rocks on 
our house and shouted and yelled. My mother went to the 
door which had no lock, and stood with an ax in her hand, 
ready to protect her home and children. 

Threats that my father and uncle would be indicted 
by the next grand jury, that they had been caught red 
handed in transporting negroes and would have an op¬ 
portunity to serve time at Alton, was not a pleasant greet¬ 
ing to their families. This did not go direct to the ears 
of my father and uncle. Even Dave Chrisman was too 
gentlemanly to discuss the question with the Blazers or 
Allisons. Those were trying times but do not conclude 
this condition existed all over the county. It was much 
worse in the neighborhoods where there was an under¬ 
ground station. Now, I do not believe any one who was not 
intimate with conditions, can realize just what it meant 
to a family to be in such strife and turmoil. 

With the emancipation of the slaves by Abraham Lin¬ 
coln, there was, of course, no further need for the under¬ 
ground railway, but many years and a new generation 
were required to wipe out the old animosities. 


20 





The Times Record Co. 
Aledo, Illinois 


/ ,-k « A Vi t 

p - <k .i .<r \ ' •: ■ 












* • v • ' *' 

<• 

- * 1 /*>** 

J 1 •' ' • ”■ 


; 





'•‘V **" 




‘ //* r 

V- 







f ; ' 


A ■ A 
















i y .4 - 

A 

■ * '• 

A • / <* 



Y 










* 






; a 

. \ .^ 






' - , : ; } ; *-■ 


*, .. ■.... i 

.■• 1 - 7 ^ ■ ■ h 

















f 


* v * A , ‘ 

jfe ' •• ■ • *’ - i’jb *T .jtf 





' ‘ ■ iSi.'. > 'S& ■ : 

■ '*«&&*'■ ifll'iiu, * •• ' 

- 

* V».*-a .• " ’ **•» .• »•> M v v <■ . . . \ 




'¥Wkmw* y"4 1 

-,ew 

v n < l w , .•«. . T *»>wJn 

ItM* , •••%#> nJ* *&;& ¥&& •; . ’ ;*> \ 

-^i.: % •' : ’- ji - .. lV> . | y-jM''. -fc }«' $ %'y■ > 

ik$L<}.-- r-'I* $mm &f|t: t w. 

< 

; ,i. , k\« % M ff?, fyff, •» ,, 

!N 

s .'- .>*\>\ . 'V %; .1 -'if- ;#',P .. <* ' - ■■,>*■ 

:-?< h $$£ '■$$&!• W‘i ■ V , ■■■;■'' 

4 ' yi V .V:.' . '%in . 4 ,, :■•;#.*•; : ,. , •’ f ' 






























































w O 


P*V * *' 





♦ r\ </> 

<$n c* ^/QlfeV. ^ a^ 


VS' 




<L ? <J \- V J ,;' '. . o v V«* 

* A> %■ • * AV *£\ 

A v ' < ~lt ' 4 • • ** iA <b 'o . * * O' 

-0 o° v ®-» ' o \ ^ . 1 ' * „ <£ aG* o " o 

•v - s v--.V''\i v %^ *N * fl5/i/ *7. ^ 

^ Cr ° 0 \\ 



V 




« o 


'I ^ °o 

c + 4 ? > v c> . 

^ ** v&y %. / 

A O V "./■• 'A * c> °?r* 

' ^ ’ %^aj:y’ •* 

^ aV ° • a a° ^ '.. «• A 

,A V ’ *■ 9 ♦ ^ , 0 ' 0 0 " ° ^V . i / a 

1 . . -iXNr. «• ^ 



° 




</» 


<iS o >- o 

v. •••'<» *•<’* ^° 

^ V c\ ,0 

^ A * a ^v.-^ /l * "^a A~£* V 



V*V 

* 

* ^ 

••** a 0 o ^TTV*' A 

* o J*^ ** 

^ U '-’ +*0* 

° £ ^ *°' 7 V- 

A- 0 ■j. *A - M^- . <, i- o . ™ , 

*' :MI£°« V,/ 







..>o " .-</%, 0 ^ .«”•,“% '•*■ .,♦' ... 

^ a*/s^% A A . -^v ° ^ ♦•* 

\G v% 

•V *>W/ ^ c V^<,’ o i. '■’ 

^ •• “• / *♦ * '• ^‘*.. 0 - . 

.* 4 b.'v 

\ *' a/ V, -If: 





\>* . A 


\0 »t* 8 “\yi *3 O 

» ^ •>% T , A^o A<v 

♦ r\ ^A >r \^\\\'N . j ^ S. > 

^ A -) ri. V • <1 " 

,^° .. * . . o ’ 



, • 1 ' • » 't* .0 * c ° ' “ 

6 * ' 




r o» 


° 

* A > 'J 









